Results by area for the Scottish elections 2011 for the Holyrood parliament.

Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond pulled off an unprecedented victory in the Scottish Parliament election, clearing the way for a referendum on independence.

Flying into Edinburgh by helicopter, he pledged to "make the nation proud" after his party won 69 of 129 seats.

He welcomed promises of constructive opposition from the leaders of Labour and the Liberal Democrats, adding: "This party, the Scottish party, the national party, carries your hope. We shall carry it carefully and make the nation proud."

Mr Salmond saw his party pick up seats across Scotland, dealing a devastating blow to Labour - which will lose its leader, Iain Gray - and taking huge numbers of votes from the Liberal Democrats.

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The final results for the Scottish Parliament election puts the SNP on 69 seats, Labour on 37, Conservatives on 15, Liberal Democrats on five and Greens on two. Independent MSP Margo Macdonald was also returned to parliament.

Former Labour ministers found themselves out of a job as the SNP the made inroads into constituencies previously considered heartlands for Labour and the Lib Dems.

The Lib Dems were wiped out from their constituency seats all over mainland Scotland, and lost 25 deposits after failing to win five per cent of the vote in some areas.

Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott held on to his Shetland seat with a reduced share of the vote, while others were picked up in Orkney and in regional lists.

The party lost key seats in the north-east, which the SNP took in a clean sweep of the region.